Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Park plays key role to earn QPR’s first point
By Jung Min-ho
Queens Park Rangers (QPR) earned their first point this season Saturday after a draw against Norwich City, thanks to captain Park Ji-sung’s great contribution to the lax defense line.
Bouncing back from a humiliating 5-0 defeat against Swansea on Aug. 18, QPR secured their net at Carrow Road, only allowing one goal by Simeon Jackson, who headed home Anthony Pilkington’s cross in the 11th minute. Park played a key role in blocking City’s threatening offense in the center of midfield, supplying goal-chances to the front from time to time. QPR got back on terms with the home team as a striker Bobby Zamora leveled the game by firing in following Djibril Cisse’s penalty seven minutes later.
“It was a game of few chances in fairness, but in terms of our organization and quality it was a vast improvement,” manager QPR Mark Hughes said on the team’s official website. “They utilized the threat of Holt very well in the first half, but I thought we improved defensively in the second half.”
Entering the second match after a shocking defeat in the first one, Hughes made some changes in the defense line by adding Armand Traore to the game and sending Nedum Onuoha to the bench. Park also partnered Samba Diakite to take charge in the midfielder defense line.
Diakite’s lackluster performance was speckled with many mistakes exposing critical holes in the line, but Park effectively covered up to offset the errors. He was also in charge of delivering the corner-kicks and free-kicks throughout the match, except for the mid-range ones, to breathe life into the team’s offense. Although the 31-year-old didn’t score in the game, his threatening mid-range shot in the 37th minute and sharp passes to the front line signaled his performance has much improved from the previous one.
A lack of coordination nonetheless raised concerns for the team’s upcoming game against the defending champion Manchester City on Sept. 9 (KST), leaving much for QPR to work on to make a breakthrough this season.
“We know we can improve markedly on that performance in terms of our quality, but we’re a new team and we will improve,” Hughes said. “It’s only my second away point in charge here, so that’s got to be positive as well.”